Poppy Appeal

[lizziec]

Rememberence Day is in two days. It means more to me this year, which is odd - I blame my World War One module this year.

Anyway - a banner is now on my website, and now below...



Please give generously. They really did believe they were fighting for Glory, Honour and the survival of civilisation.

They fought for you.

Comments

[ingridgirl.livejournal.com]

I went to the battlefields, to the somme, saw all the graves of both our side and the germans. Really made it more real to me.

[lizziec]

I went to the ones at ypres and yes, I found it made it more real for me too...seeing all those graves and knowing it was only one cemetary in that area. It really makes you think :S

[(Anonymous)]

the poppy appeal also supports those from conflicts since 1918, Th Falklands, Iraq1, Iraq2, Northern Ireland.

Whether we agree with war or not, those who have been involved in conflict, and injured deserve our support. It is the politicians who should be vilified.

The views expressed by WB Yeats in an Irish Airman forsees his death sum it up pretty well (it's in the poetry section at No1typo.me.uk)

[lizziec]

amen.

[slimeypete.livejournal.com]

Do they still do collection-boxes these days?

I haven't seen one since secondary school.

[reggitsti.livejournal.com]

There was somehting in the paper the other day about how the Poppy Appeal is desperatly short of collectors and organisers. Sad really :(

[morti.livejournal.com]

Aye, we got one at work. And there was one at the school I worked in a week or two back.

[morti.livejournal.com]

Honestly, not wanting to sound insensitive. I don't get it. What does the money actually go to? Upkeep of war memorials? Because, unless I'm missing something quite fundamental here, it sounds pretty pointless.

[lizziec]

Could you be any less well informed and prejudiced?

Allow me to point you at The Royal British Legion's website in which they state that: The Royal British Legion is the UK's leading charity providing financial, social and emotional support to millions who have served and are currently serving in the Armed Forces, and their dependants. It also states the origins of the Legion: The Legion was founded in 1921 as a voice for the ex-Service community and our 550,000 members continue to ensure that this voice does not go unheard. Although the needs of ex-Service people have changed over the years, we are still there to safeguard their welfare, interests and memory.

The poppy appeal serves a dual purpose - it allows us to commemorate all the people who died in all wars and it provides support for ex-service people and service people's dependants. It states here that It helps with a huge range of issues, including counselling, job retraining, skills assessment, getting the right pensions and benefits, advice and interest free loans for setting up small businesses, welfare grants, Remembrance Travel to war graves, convalescent and nursing care, and home and hospital visits.

The legion do good work and diserve our support, as do the people who require their help.

For your information, the upkeep of various memorials are, in general, down to the local authority or parish council whos juristiction they are in, although the Royal British Legion take care of some. The upkeep of war cemetaries from all conflicts falls to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. You may find this a useful read.

Maybe next time you'll search for the facts before passing judgement.

[morti.livejournal.com]

I'm not informed at all, that was the point in asking. Prejudiced I take exception to, 'cause I'm not and I don't know where you could get that idea from based on what I said.

Thanks for informing me, I see its worth a bit more now. :)

Same to "J".

[benc.livejournal.com]

prej·u·dice n.
1. An adverse judgment or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or examination of the facts.
2. A preconceived preference or idea.

[(Anonymous)]

Nice! :-)

[morti.livejournal.com]

Yep. I didn't form any adverse judgement or opinion, I said it "sounds" pretty pointless from what I'd heard of it.

I think there's a lot of people who don't really know what it's about. When I was in school, we were told it was something to do with war memorials and why it was called the poppy appeal, but they never actually said what the money went to.

[(Anonymous)]

You're missing something quite fundamental. The idea is to provide support to people serving and who have served in the Armed Forces and their families. They give grants, provide nursing homes, care, etc. to those people who have given so much for their country. As mentioned before it's not just about the first and second world war, but any conflict and any armed forces service since.

The idea of remembrance day is to make us all stop and think for a moment about how so many people have risked and given their lives to make our lives better. Hopefully we will not forget what these people have done and are doing, and in remembering we will try not to let it happen again (although in the current climate this is somewhat debatable I understand).

Anyhow, it's not difficult to find out more using the handy link (at the top of this page) to their website:

"The Royal British Legion is the UK's leading charity providing financial, social and emotional support to millions who have served and are currently serving in the Armed Forces, and their dependants. Currently, nearly 11 million people are eligible for our support and we receive around 300,000 calls for help every year."

Cheers,
J.